Footwear holding means



July 3, 1962 S. M. MONSMA FOOTWEAR HOLDING MEANS Filed Dec. 25, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet I l l2 34 FIG. 3

3a so 28 INVENTOR.

SHIRLEY M. MONSMA BY FIG. 4 n. a. A4144 ATTORNEY July 3, 1962 s. M. MONSMA 3,041,743

FOOTWEAR HOLDING MEANS Filed Dec. 25, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 go i2 FIG. 9

INVENTOR.

SHIRLEY M. MONSMA BY 2 4M ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,041,743 FOOTWEAR HOLDING MEANS Shirley M. Monsma, 229 E. Dubai], South Bend, Ind. Filed Dec. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 861,612 4 Claims. (Cl. 36-1) The present invention relates to footwear holding means, and more particularly to a means for holding the upper portions of footwear together.

Small children have difficulty in knowing which boot belongs on which foot. This is especially a problem when they are away from home such as in kindergarten, where there are too many children for the one or two adults available to help them. It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a means of holding the upper portions of footwear in pairs when they are not being worn, and in the proper'position for putting them on.

Where there are many children's boots in a small area such as a school cloakroom, or even in a closet in a home where there .are severalsmall children, it is very difficult to keep the two boots of each pair together, so that the pairs of similar appearance and size are not mixed. It is therefore a further object of the invention to keep both boots belonging to each child together and the pairs separated from one another.

A further object of the invention is to provide a relatively handy-means for. retaining the boots of a pair together when they are not being worn, which requires little effort or skill to place the boots in their held position and to separate them when they are to be worn.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a means of saving time in locating and proper positioning of boots for various members of a family or members of a group in a public place. 1

Another object is to provide a means for accomplishing the foregoing operation which can be incorporated in boots, rubbers, shoes and the like of conventional construction and which does not interfere with their normal wear and use.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel holding means of the foregoing type which will be attractive to children, encouraging them to learn to put on their own boots.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a pair of boots employing my holding device secured thereto;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of theboot for the right foot showing one element of the device;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the portions of the boots in which the device is mounted, showing the two elements of the device in elevation;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross section of the boots showing a modified form of the invention in elevation as seen from the top;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of one element of the device shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the boots and the device showing a further modification of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a top view of a pair of boots showing another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view of the boots showing the device of FIGURE 7 in elevation mounted thereon;

FIGURE 9 is an end view of one of the elements illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8; and d FIGURE 10 illustrates .another embodiment of the evice.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, numeral 3,041,743 Patented July 3, 1962 10 designates the right boot, 12 the left, and 14 my magnetic holding device. Holding device 14 consists of steel plate 16 and magnet 18 secured in the top, inner sides of the boots by stems 20 and 22 and buttons 24 and 26, respectively. Since most boots are made of rubber or other resilient material, buttons 24 and 26 can be slipped through a hole, provided in the appropriate place in the upper portions of'the boot walls, which is of substantially smaller diameter than the buttons, so that once in place they. are not'easily removed. With this embodiment of the invention, the element consisting of plate 16, stem 20 and button 24 can be of integral construction, and likewise magnet 18, stem 22 and button 26 can be an integral element. An advantage of this construction is that the holding elements can be applied to the boots during a step in their manufacture, or can be sold separately and applied by the consumer.

When the child is ready toput on his boots, he can easily locate both boots since they are retained together when not in use. Since the holding device elements are on the left and right walls, respectively, of the right and left boots, the ,boots are in proper position for the child to put on without his having to inspect them to see which boot is for the right and which for the left foot. This is especially helpful for children who do not yet know right from left.

FIGURES 4 and 5 show a modified form of the int vention in which a horseshoe-type magnet 27 is used on one boot in combination with steel plate 28. on the other boot. This modified form is used in the same position on the boot as the form of FIGURES 1 through 3. Plate 28 is secured to boot 12 by means of a rivet 30 extending through the boot Wall and secured to plate 29 on the inside of the boot. Plate 32 on the inside of boot 10 holds horseshoe magnet 27 on the outside of the boot by means of rivet 34, as shown in FIGURES. This holding means can be applied to the boots as a step in the manufacturing of the boots.

A furthermodified form is shown in FIGURE 6 in which the boots 10' and 12 are made with pockets 36 and 38 formed integrally therewith in the inner side Walls of the upper portions of the boots near the top. Magnet 7 40 and steel plate 42 are then inserted in the pockets, and

since the walls of pockets 36 and 38 are very thin, they do not interfere with the eifectiveness of the magnet and steel plate cooperating :to hold the boots together. Alternatively, the pockets 36 and 38 may be made of cloth or other suitable material cemented or otherwise secured to the boots.

The embodiment shown in FIGURES 7, 8 and 9 consists of a bar-type magnet 44 and bar 46 of magnetic attractable material secured to boots 10 and 12 by straps 48 and 50, respectively. The straps may be tabs made integrally with the boots and secured by cementing or some other suitable means at 52 and 54, forming loops 56 and 58 in which magnet 44 and bar 46, respectively, are held. Straps 48 and 50 may be separate from the boots and secured thereto by cementing or sewing or some other suitable means. They hold the magnet and bar on the backs of the upper portions of the boots, near the top and inner side, so that the boots are held together when not being worn, as shown in FIGURE 7, in the proper position for putting them on.

FIGURE 10 shows a conventional horsehoe magnet 60 secured to boot 12 by a strap 62. Strap 62 is cemented or otherwise secured to the boot at sections 64, 66 and 68, leaving openings 70 and 72 through which portions 74 and 76 of the magnet are inserted. A plate 78 of magnetic attractable material having thickened end portion 80 is secured to boot 10 by means of rivets 82 and 84. The magnet and plate are located at the top of the backs of the upper portions of the boots near the inner edge with the result that they hold the boots together in the same manner as magnet 44 and bar 46 illustrated in FIGURE 7. An advantage of this embodiment is that the elements can be applied bythe consumer onto conventional boo-ts. This type of magnet is also especially attractive tochildren, so that they would be encouraged to put the boots on by themselves.

Further changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the device can be adapted to other kinds of footwear, such as boots, rubbers and shoes for adults, and shoe skates for adults and children, to aid in their storage. For use on adult footwear it would not be necessary to apply the holding device Where it would retain the footwear in proper right-left relationship for wearing. Further, the magnet may be attached to a buckle strap in place of the usual buckle part, so that it can serve both to close the boot and to retain the boots of a pair together.

I claim:

1. A holder for keeping the right and left upper portions of a pair of footwear together, comprising a permanent magnet, a means for attaching said magnet near the top of one of said upper portions, a member of magnetic attractable material, and a means for attaching said member near the top of the other of said upper portions so that a child may quickly differentiate his pair of footwear from other similar pairs having recognized One half of his pair. 7

2. A holder for keeping the right and left upper portions of a pair of boots and the like together, comprising a permanent magnet, each upper portion including a hole in its inner wall, a button attached to one side of said magnet for attaching said magnet to the hole, and a member of magnetic attractable material on the outside 4 surface of the inner wall of the other of said portions in the position corresponding to the position of the magnet on the respective portion.

3. A holder for keeping the right and left upper portions of a pair of boots and the like together, comprising a permanent magnet, a means including walls defining a pocket for attaching said magnet to the outside surface of the inner wall of one of said portions, a member of magnetic attractable metal, and a means including walls defining a pocket for attaching said member to the outside surface of the inner wall of the other of said portions in the position corresponding to the position of the magnet on the respective portion.

4. A holder for keeping the right and left upper portions of a pair of footwear together, comprising a permanent horseshoe shaped magnet, a means including a vertically positioned strap for attaching said magnet to the back of one of said portions adjacent the top thereof with two ends of the magnet pointing toward the other of said portions, a member of magnetic attractable material for contacting both of said ends simultaneously, and a means including a vertically positioned strap for attaching said member to the back of the other of said portions adjacent the top thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 794,561 Spencer July 11, 1905 902,573 Fleck Nov. 3, 1908 1,300,998 Nelson Apr. 15, 1919 2,266,281 Shute Dec. 16, 1941 2,473,877 Goldstein June 21, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 1204/1898 Great Britain Jan. 15, 1898 

